Romann A. Thomas v. City of Hampton
This text of Romann A. Thomas v. City of Hampton (Romann A. Thomas v. City of Hampton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.
Opinion
COURT OF APPEALS OF VIRGINIA
Present: Judges Kelsey, Petty and Senior Judge Willis Argued at Chesapeake, Virginia
ROMANN A. THOMAS MEMORANDUM OPINION * BY v. Record No. 1993-07-1 JUDGE WILLIAM G. PETTY SEPTEMBER 23, 2008 CITY OF HAMPTON
FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE CITY OF HAMPTON Louis R. Lerner, Judge
Ben Pavek (Deborah Saunders; Office of the Public Defender, on briefs), for appellant.
Jeffry A. Sachs, Deputy City Attorney (Office of the City Attorney, on brief), for appellee.
Following a bench trial, Romann A. Thomas was convicted of disorderly conduct in
violation of Hampton City Code § 24-12. Thomas reasons that, because he could have been
convicted of other offenses, the other-crimes proviso of Hampton City Code § 24-12 precludes
his prosecution for disorderly conduct. Therefore, Thomas argues on appeal that the trial court
erred in failing to grant his motion to strike the evidence. For the following reasons, we disagree
with Thomas and affirm his conviction.
I. Background 1
On appeal, we view “the evidence and all reasonable inferences flowing therefrom . . . in
the light most favorable to the prevailing party in the trial court.” Parker v. Commonwealth, 275
* Pursuant to Code § 17.1-413, this opinion is not designated for publication. 1 Thomas filed a written statement of facts in lieu of a transcript pursuant to Rule 5A:8(c). Va. 150, 155, 654 S.E.2d 580, 583 (2008). On March 24, 2006, Hampton City Police responded
to a call and arrived at a hotel lobby in which Thomas was standing naked, loudly complaining
that “small furry animals” were biting him. Officer Easton arrived at the hotel lobby and
observed Thomas’ conduct. According to Officer Easton, Thomas appeared to be intoxicated.
Thomas was repeatedly asked to leave the area but he refused to do so. Officer Easton testified
that a number of people were standing in the foyer and that Thomas was standing in such a
position that people in the foyer were blocked from entering the hotel and moving around in the
hotel lobby. Officer Easton arrested Thomas for disorderly conduct in violation of Hampton
City Code § 24-12.
At trial, Officer Easton admitted that she had probable cause to arrest Thomas for
indecent exposure, public intoxication, and obstructing free passage of others. Based on this
testimony, Thomas moved to strike the Commonwealth’s evidence citing our holding in Battle v.
Commonwealth, 50 Va. App. 135, 647 S.E.2d 499 (2007). Thomas argued that he could not be
convicted of disorderly conduct as a matter of law because the other-crimes proviso in the City
of Hampton ordinance exempted conduct that was otherwise punishable under Chapter 24 of the
Hampton City Code. 2 The trial court denied Thomas’ motion, and found him guilty of
disorderly conduct.
2 Thomas did not argue that his conduct was not disorderly, i.e., that his conduct did not have a “direct tendency to cause acts of violence by the person or persons at whom, individually, such conduct [was] directed.” Hampton City Code § 24-12. Therefore, we assume that Thomas’ conduct did in fact violate the ordinance and we focus our attention on whether the other-crimes proviso precludes his conviction as a matter of law.
-2- II. Analysis
The ordinance for which Thomas was convicted provides in relevant part as follows:
(a) A person is guilty of disorderly conduct and a Class 1 misdemeanor if, with the intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he:
(1) In any street, highway, or public building, or while in or on a public conveyance or public place, engages in conduct having a direct tendency to cause acts of violence by the person or persons at whom, individually, such conduct is directed.
* * * * * * *
(b) However, the conduct prohibited under subsection (a)(1) . . . of this section shall not be deemed to include . . . conduct otherwise made punishable under this chapter.
Hampton City Code § 24-12. The City enacted this ordinance pursuant to the authority granted
by the General Assembly in Code § 18.2-415, which permits localities to enact an ordinance
“prohibiting and punishing the acts and conduct prohibited by this section.” Because this
ordinance parallels the language in Code § 18.2-415, “prior appellate decisions interpreting [the
statute] are relevant in our application of the [City of Hampton’s] disorderly conduct ordinance
to the facts in appellant’s case.” Howard v. City of Roanoke, 51 Va. App. 36, 43, 654 S.E.2d
322, 325 (2007). While the ordinance is virtually identical to the statute, it contains one material
difference. Under Code § 18.2-415, the other-crimes proviso precludes a conviction if the
disorderly conduct is comprised solely of conduct punishable under Title 18.2. However, under
§ 24-12(b) of the Hampton City Code, the other-crimes proviso applies only to a subset of those
offenses that are made punishable under Chapter 24 of the Hampton City Code. 3
3 The net effect is that the disorderly conduct ordinance is much broader in its application than the corresponding statute. We express no opinion on whether Code § 18.2-415 authorizes the adoption of such an ordinance.
-3- In Battle, this Court recognized that the other-crimes proviso limits the application of
Code § 18.2-415 and that the limitation “is finely calibrated.” Battle, 50 Va. App. at 140, 647
S.E.2d at 501. We noted that “it is not enough that the defendant could merely be prosecuted for
a Title 18.2 crime because that requires only a showing of probable cause,” rather, “the conduct
exempted” by the other-crimes proviso “includes only Title 18.2 crimes for which the defendant
could be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. Furthermore, Battle narrowed the
application of the other-crimes proviso to preclude a conviction only when the “convictable
disorderly conduct is comprised solely of conduct ‘otherwise made punishable under this title.’”
Id. at 141, 647 S.E.2d at 502 (emphasis in original). Thus, each distinct act that, in the
aggregate, constitutes disorderly conduct must be otherwise punishable under Title 18.2 of the
Code for the limitation to apply.
That same analysis applies in this case. In order for Thomas to prevail, his “convictable
disorderly conduct [must be] comprised solely of conduct otherwise made punishable under
[Chapter 24 of the Hampton City Code].” Id. (emphasis in original) (internal quotation marks
omitted). Or, to state it another way, it is not enough that some of his disorderly conduct was
subject to conviction of another offense – all of his conduct must have constituted separate
offenses under Chapter 24 in order for the exclusion to apply.
Thomas concedes that he committed three distinct acts that would each constitute
disorderly conduct. Specifically, Thomas concedes that standing naked in the hotel lobby,
appearing intoxicated in a public place, and preventing hotel patrons from freely moving about
the lobby would each, individually, constitute disorderly conduct. Thomas contends, however,
that those individual acts would also support a conviction of indecent exposure, public
intoxication, and obstructing the free passage of others, respectively.
-4- Even assuming that Thomas’ argument is correct, his conduct does not come within the
other-crimes proviso of the ordinance.
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